Neorealist Reenactment as Postwar Pedagogy

Abstract

This chapter examines the Italian cinema contexts for Cesare Zavattini’s radical reconception of the notion of the nonprofessional actor—that everyone acts his or her life on camera—during the waning of neorealism. Pedinamento, closely tracking an event, and film-lampo, the investigation film, are analyzed as a transition from neorealist precepts to a verité focus on named individuals who turn their lives into exemplary narratives. Episodes from Love in the City (1953)—Zavattini and Maselli’s The Story of Caterina and Antonioni’s Attempted Suicides—are analyzed in their articulation of narrative of self-revision. A complementary omnibus project We the Women (1953) on famous stars’ everyday existence suggests the ways early 1950s reenactment engages thematically with the star system (e.g., Guarini’s Contest: 4 Actresses; 1 Hope, Franciolini’s Alida Valli) and with questions of authenticity and theatricality. In-person reenactment leads to modern cinema hybrids mixing acting and self-presentation (e.g., Visconti’s take on Magnani, Rossellini’s on Bergman).